CTBTO Preparatory Commission holds seminar in Tlatelolco, Mexico

PI/2005/08

The Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) held a seminar on the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) on 28 April 2005 in Tlatelolco, Mexico. The seminar took place on the margins of the "Conference of States Parties and Signatories of Treaties that establish Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zones" which was held in Tlatelolco, Mexico, from 26 to 28 April 2005.

The main aim of the seminar was to enhance the understanding of the CTBT, by informing on the Preparatory Commission?s work and the commitments of Member States to its objectives. Presentations given by staff of the Provisional Technical Secretariat of the CTBTO Preparatory Commission focused on the political aspects of the CTBT and the membership benefits.

The participants of the seminar represented States and non-governmental organizations who attended the "Conference of States Parties and Signatories of Treaties that establish Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zones".

The Chairperson of the Preparatory Commission for the CTBTO, H.E. Ms Taous Feroukhi, Ambassador of Algeria, opened the seminar. In her statement she stressed the symbolic value of the seminar taking place in Mexico during the "Conference of States Parties and Signatories of Treaties that establish Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zones". She recalled that it was following Mexico?s initiative that five Latin American States first envisaged the establishment of a nuclear-weapon-free zone in Latin America. In her statement to the Conference, the Chairperson of the Preparatory Commission for the CTBTO also stressed the complementary objectives of the CTBT and Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zones. In this regard, she referred to the relationship agreement of the Preparatory Commission for the CTBTO with the Agency for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America and the Caribbean (OPANAL).

One hundred and ten states have signed the four international treaties on the establishment of nuclear-weapon-free zones or, as in the case of Mongolia, unilaterally declared its nuclear-weapon-free status. Of these states, 100 have also signed the CTBT.